Variable resistance control having hinged based member

ABSTRACT

A variable resistance slide control employing a rectilinear slide carrying a contactor wipably engaging a resistance element and a conductive element supported in a housing. A pair of spaced guide means on the slider supported by resilient dielectric guide-supporting means in side members of the housing permits uniform operation of the slider. The guide-supporting means provided in the side members are of the same width throughout the entire length of the housing. The side members are integral with and hingeably secured to the bottom member. In one embodiment tolerance compensators are provided on resilient guide means of the slider for substantially eliminating pitch and yaw of the slider during movement. An operating member secured to the slider extends outwardly through a slot provided in the housing.

United States Patent [72 inventors John Zdanys, Jr.

Edwardsburg, Mich.; Norman C. Weingart, Elkhart, Ind. [21 Appl. No.887,228 [22) Filed Dec. 22, I969 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 I 73]Assignee CTS Corporation Elkhart, Ind.

[54] VARIABLE RESISTANCE CONTROL HAVING Primary Examiner-Lewis H. MyersAssistant ExaminerGerald P. Tolin Attorney-John J Gaydos ABSTRACT: Avariable resistance slide control employing a rectilinear slide carryinga contactor wipably engaging a resistance element and a conductiveelement supported in a housing. A pair of spaced guide means on theslider supported by resilient dielectric guide-supporting means in sidemembers of the housing permits uniform operation of the slider. Theguide-supporting means provided in the side members are of the samewidth throughout the entire length of the housing. The side members areintegral with and hingeably secured to the bottom member. In oneembodiment tolerance compensators are provided on resilient guide meansof the slider for substantially eliminating pitch and yaw of the sliderduring movement. An operating member secured to the slider extendsoutwardly through a slot provided in the housing.

VARIABLE RESISTANCE CONTROL HAVING HINGED BASED MEMBER The presentinvention relates to variable resistance controls and, moreparticularly, to a variable resistance slide control having a slidermovable rectilinearly in the housing.

Variable resistance slide controls are well known in the art asexemplified by Rubinstein U.S. Pat. No. 2,242,327, Lovejoy et al. U.S.Pat. No. 3,412,316 and Barden et al. application Ser. No. 680,190 filedon Nov. 2, 1967. Although Lovejoy et al. and Barden et al., assigned tothe same assignee as the present invention, disclose how to makevariable resistance slide controls having smooth and uniform slidermovement, maximum buildup of tolerances of cooperating parts of suchcontrols causes undesirable pitch and yaw of the movable slidersespecially when the slider operating means extends outwardly through aslot provided in the housing of the control. These problems can beminimized by decreasing tolerances but as is well known tightertolerances increase the manufacturing cost of the control. It would,therefore, be desirable to provide a variable resistance slide controlhaving improved slider movement and where tolerance buildup of amajority of parts employed in assembling the control does not affectoperation of the slider.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved variable-resistance slide control. Another object of thepresent invention is to provide a variable resistance slide controlwhere slider movement is virtually independent of the dimensionalvariations resulting from manufacturing tolerances of a majority of theparts of the control. An additional object of the present invention isto provide a variable resistance slide control with a slider having apair of runners received in channels, provided in opposite sidewalls ofthe housing. A further object of the present invention is to provide avariable resistance slide control with a resilient dielectric insertdefined by a bottom member and channeled side members hingeably securedand integral with the bottom member for uniformly guiding rectilinearmovement of a slider. Still another object of the present invention isto provide a slide control with tolerance-compensating means. Furtherobjects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, and the features of noveltycharacterizing the invention will be pointed out with particularity inthe claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Briefly, the present invention is concerned with a variable resistanceslide control employing a rectilinear slider carrying a contactorwipably engaging a resistance element and a conductive element supportedin an elongated housing. The rectilinear slider mounted in the housinghas a pair of spaced guide means received in guide-supporting meansprovided in opposite side members of the housing. The guide-supportingmeans in the side members are of the same width throughout the entirelength of the housing to assure that the pitch of the slider will notvary during rectilinear movement of the slider from one end of thecontrol to the other end. The guide supporting means also maintain thecontactor a predetermined distance from the resistance and conductiveelements. Preferably the side members are of resilient dielectricmaterial and are hingeably secured to the base member to facilitateassembly of the side members in the housing. In one form of theinvention, the ends of the guide means are provided with tolerancecompensators for eliminating pitch and yaw of the slider when the slideris moved. An operating member extending from the housing is connected tothe slider for moving the slider in the housing.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference numerals havebeen applied to like parts and wherein:

I FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a variable resistance slide controlmade in accord with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line lI-Il of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the control shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a guide supporting means best shown in FIG.3 of the drawings with the side members hingeably secured to and lyingin the same plane as the base member;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the guide supporting means shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated avariable resistance slide control generally indicated at 10 comprisingan elongated channel-shaped housing 11 formed from a stamped singlepiece of metal and defined by a bottom wall 12 and a pair of sidewallsI3, 14 integral with the bottom wall and projecting upwardly therefrom.The top of the housing is defined by a dielectric member 15 of suitablematerial and end tabs 16 extending upwardly from the sidewalls arefolded laterally over the dielectric member for securing the member 15to the housing 11. As best shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, a pair ofelongated resistance elements 17 are disposed in the housing and securedto one side of the dielectric member 15 with terminals 18a. Tworesistance elements are employed when the variable resistance control isemployed in stereo equipment. For purposes of the present invention,either a single resistance element or a pair of resistance elements suchas shown in the drawings can be employed with the control. Furtherreference to a stereo or dualelement slide control is disclosed inBarden et al. U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 680,190 filed on Nov. 2,1967, and a singleelement slide control is shown in Lovejoy et al. U.S.Pat. No. 3,412,361. A pair of conductive elements 19 (see FIGS. 2 and 3)corresponding to the resistance elements 17 are fixedly secured withterminals 18b to an insulated bottom member 20 disposed along the bottomwall 12 of the housing. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of tabs 12aprojecting inwardly from the bottom wall 12 of the housing 11 andreceived in openings 20a provided in the bottom member 20 locate thebottom member in the housing.

According to the present invention, a pair of side members 21, 22 arehingedly secured to and integral with the bottom member 20. The sidemembers are provided with guide-supporting means, e.g., longitudinalchannels 23, 24, in spaced parallel relationship to the bottom member20. Slidably supported by the guide-supporting means are a pair of guidemeans, e.g., runners 25, 26 integral with a slider 27 for guidingrectilinear movement of the slider in the housing. An operat ing member270 integral with the slider 27 extends outwardly through a slotprovided in the housing, e.g., in the dielectric member 15. Preferablythe resistance elements 17 are disposed on opposite sides of a planepassing through the slot and the center of the bottom member 20 dividingthe housing into two equal sections. Bearing surfaces on the guide meansand on the guide-supporting means permit smooth operation of the sliderin the housing. To assure that the slider can be moved from one end ofthe housing to the other, without an increase in the degree of pitch, itis necessary that the width of the channels be uniform throughout thelength thereof. As used herein pitch" denotes a rocking motion oralternate rising and falling of the front and rear of the slider as theslider is moved back and forth in the housing while yaw" denotes aturning from a desired line of movement about the normal, or verticalaxis of the slider.

To this end and in accord with the present invention, the

base member 20 and the side members 21 hingeably secured.

thereto are extruded or molded as a single part or housing insert withthe side members lying in the same plane as the base member (see FIGS. 4and 5 of the drawings). By forming the side members in the same plane asthe base member, it is possible to keep the width of theguide-supporting means 23, 24 constant for the entire length thereof ineach of the side members and prevent a change in pitch of the slider asit is moved from one end to the other. Such uniformity of width is.

possible since the portions of a mold forming the channels 23, 24 areremoved'from the insert in a direction nonnal or transverse to theinsert instead of in a direction longitudinal to the insert, i.e., fromone end thereof. Any minor taper of the sides of the channels toward thebottom thereof is insignificant since such taper also is constant forthe entire length of the channel. If the housing insert were molded withthe side members extending upwardly as shown in FlGS. 1 to 3, then thechannels would probably have an undesirable taper to facilitatelongitudinal removal of the portions of the mold fonning the channels ofthe insert. The side members are connected to the base member withhinges 28 defined by grooves such as V-shaped slots and the walls ofeach slot are at 90 to each other when molded to assure that asubstantially square corner will be formed when the side members arefolded upwardly of the base member and assembled in the housing. Themolded insert, i.e., the bottom member and the integral side members arepreferably molded from a resilient dielectric material such as hardrubber, nylon, or polychlorotrifluoroethylene. The material below theV-shaped slots joins the side members to the bottom members and beingelastic or resilient hingeably secures the members together. The slideris molded of the same or similar dielectric material as the insert.

For the purpose of further minimizing and substantially eliminatingpitch and yaw of the slider, the end portions 250, 26a of the runners25, 26 extend beyond the body of the slider and tolerance compensators29 and 30 (see FIG. 3) are provided on the end portions. In a preferredform of the invention, the tolerance compensators 29 and 30 extendrespectively'outwardly and downwardly from the end portions of therunners a distance equal to the tolerances desired to be overcome. Forexample if dimension D (see FIG. 2) between the channels is at amaximum, the outwardly extending tolerance compensators 29 are designedto take up the additional space and prevent yaw of the slider and, ifdimension D is at a minimum, the end portions of the runners flexslightly inwardly to compensate for the decrease in dimension D andassure proper rectilinear movement of the slider without yaw. If bydesign the outwardly extending tolerance compensators 29 have adimension greater than dimension D, then the ends of the runners arealways biased inwardly toward each other regardless of the variation indimension D in width resulting from manufacturing the control partswithin tolerance. The downwardly extending tolerance compensators 30limit pitch of the slider. Since the slider is supported solely by theguide support means, variations in the thickness of the housing 11,height of the sidewalls 13, 14 and the location of the dielectric baseto the bottom wall do not afiect pitch and yaw of the slider. Twoindividual contactors 311, 32 constrained to move with the sliderwipingly engage the conductive and resistance elements.

The cross section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings issimilar to the control shown in FIGS. 1 to of the drawings, the maindifference being that the dielectric member has been eliminated.Resistance elements 117 and conductive elements 119 are secured to thesame bottom member 12% instead of to a pair of oppositely disposeddielectric members. A channel-shaped housing llll closes the top of thechanneled insert and sidewalls 113, 114 of the housing extending alongthe outside of the side members 121 of the insert. Tabs 116 integralwith the sidewalls 113, 114 of the housing are folded over the bottomsurface of the bottom member 120 for securing the insert to the housing.Guide means 125, 126 on the slider 127 shown in FIG. 6 are identical tothe slider shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and cooperate with the guide-supportingmeans 1123, 124 in the same manner.

While there has been illustrated and described what is at presentconsidered to be a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and anadditional modification thereof, it will be appreciated that numerouschanges and modifications are likely to occur to those skilled in theart, and it is intended to cover all those changes and modificationswhich fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

ll. A variable resistance slide control comprising a housing having atop member and a bottom member spaced from the top member, an elongatedresistance element and a conductive element disposed in the housingbetween said members, terminal means connected to the elements, a pairof spaced dielectric side members hingedly secured to one of said topand bottom members and disposed between the top and bottom members, theresistance and conductive elements being disposed between the sidemembers, each of the side members being provided with a channel, aslider having a pair of spaced runners received in the channels, saidrunners supporting the slider a predetermined distance from theresistance and conductive elements, contactor means carried by theslider wipably engaging the elements, and operating means connected tothe slider and extending outwardly of the housing.

2. The variable resistance control of claim 1, wherein one of saidmembers is provided with an opening, the operating means extendsoutwardly of the housing through said opening, the bottom member is ofelectrically nonconductive material, and a pair of hinges having athickness less than the thickness of the bottom member and integraltherewith connect the side members to the bottom member.

3. In a variable resistance control the combination comprising anelongated housing having top and bottom walls and a pair of sidewalls,one of said walls being provided with an elongated slot, a pair ofconductive elements disposed in the housing, a pair of resistanceelements disposed in the housing on opposite sides of a plane passingthrough the slot and dividing the housing into two sections, terminalsconnected to the ends of the conductive and resistance elements, anelectrically nonconductive insert fixedly secured to the housingcomprising a resilient bottom member adjacent to the bottom wall and apair of resilient side members hingeably secured to the bottom memberand adjacent to the sidewalls, each of the side members being providedwith first guide means having bearing surfaces parallel to the bottommember, a slider disposed in the housing, a pair of second guide meansintegral with the slider and having bearing surfaces engaging the firstguide means for supporting the slider in the housing, contactor meanscarried by the slider and wipably engaging the elements, operating meansconnected to the slider and passing through the slot for uniformlymoving the slider.

4. The control of claim 3, wherein hinge means is integral with each ofthe side members and hingedly connects the side members to the bottommember, each of the hinge means being defined by an elongated groove inspaced parallel relationship to the first guide means.

5. A variable resistance slide control comprising a housing having a topmember and a bottom member spaced from the top member, and elongatedresistance element and a conductive element disposed between saidmembers, terminal means connected to the elements, a contactor wipablyengaging the elements intermediate the ends thereof, dielectric slidermeans constrained to move with the contactor means, dielectricslider-supporting means disposed between the top and bottom members, theslider-supporting means comprise a pair of resilient dielectric sidemembers integral with and hingedly secured to the bottom member, one ofsaid means being provided with a channel, and channel receiving meansconnected to the other means for uniformly guiding the slider means.

6. The variable resistance control of claim 5, wherein each of the sidemembers is provided with a channel and the channel receiving meanscomprises a pair of runners on opposite sides of the slider.

7. The variable resistance control of claim 5, wherein tolerancecompensators are carried by the slider means for stabilizing movement ofthe slider during rectilinear movement thereof.

8. The variable resistance control of claim 5, wherein the channels areformed in the slider-supporting means, the channel receiving means areconnected to opposite sides of the slider means and tolerancecompensators are provided on the ends of the channel receiving means forstabilizing movement of the slider during rectilinear movement thereof.

9. ln a variable resistance slide control, the combination of a slider,a support member of dielectric material supporting and guiding theslider, means for moving the slider relative to the member, said supportmember comprising a resilient bottom member, a pair of resilient sidemembers, means hingedly connecting each of the side members to thebottom member, guide means extending along each of the side members,said side members extending normal to the bottom member, resistance andconductive elements supported by the support member, and contactor meansconstrained to move with the slider and wipably engaging the elements.

10. The control of claim 9, wherein each of the second mentioned meansis defined by a groove, the material below each of the groovesconnecting the side members to the bottom member.

11. The control of claim 9, wherein each of the second mentioned meansis defined by a V-shaped groove, the material below each of the V-shapedgrooves connecting the side members to the bottom member.

12 The control of claim 9, wherein each of the guide means comprises achannel, and a pair of runners connected to the slider are receivable inthe channel.

13. A variable resistance slide control comprising a housing having atop member and a bottom member spaced from the top member, one of saidmembers being provided with an opening, an elongated resistance elementand'a conductive element disposed in the housing between said members,terminal means connected to the elements, a pair of spaced dielectricside members disposed between the top and bottom members, the resistanceand conductive elements being.

disposed between the side members, each of the side members beingprovided with a channel, a slider having a pair of spaced runnersreceived in the channels, said runners supporting the slider apredetermined distance from the resistance and conductive elements,contactor means carried by the slider wipably engaging the elements,tolerance compensators integral with the runners for stabilizingmovement of the slider during rectilinear movement of the slider in thehousing, and operating means connected to the slider and extendingoutwardly of the housing through said opening.

14. The variable resistance control of claim 13, wherein the runnersextend longitudinally beyond the body of the slider and the tolerancecompensators extend outwardly and downwardly from the end portions ofthe runners.

1. A variable resistance slide control comprising a housing having a topmember and a bottom member spaced from the top member, an elongatedresistance element and a conductive element disposed in the housingbetween said members, terminal means connected to the elements, a pairof spaced dielectric side members hingedly secured to one of said topand bottom members and disposed between the top and bottom members, theresistance and conductive elements being disposed between the sidemembers, each of the side members being provided with a channel, aslider having a pair of spaced runners received in the channels, saidrunners supporting the slider a predetermined distance from theresistance and conductive elements, contactor means carried by theslider wipably engaging the elements, and operating means connected tothe slider and extending outwardly of the housing.
 2. The variableresistance control of claim 1, wherein one of said members is providedwith an opening, the operating means extends outwardly of the housingthrough said opening, the bottom member is of electrically nonconductivematerial, and a pair of hinges having a thickness less than thethickness of the bottom member and integral therewith connect the sidemembers to the bottom member.
 3. In a variable resistance control thecombination comprising an elongated housing having top and bottom wallsand a pair of sidewalls, one of said walls being provided with anelongated slot, a pair of conductive elements disposed in the housing, apair of resistance elements disposed in the housing on opposite sides ofa plane passing through the slot and dividing the housing into twosections, terminals coNnected to the ends of the conductive andresistance elements, an electrically nonconductive insert fixedlysecured to the housing comprising a resilient bottom member adjacent tothe bottom wall and a pair of resilient side members hingeably securedto the bottom member and adjacent to the sidewalls, each of the sidemembers being provided with first guide means having bearing surfacesparallel to the bottom member, a slider disposed in the housing, a pairof second guide means integral with the slider and having bearingsurfaces engaging the first guide means for supporting the slider in thehousing, contactor means carried by the slider and wipably engaging theelements, operating means connected to the slider and passing throughthe slot for uniformly moving the slider.
 4. The control of claim 3,wherein hinge means is integral with each of the side members andhingedly connects the side members to the bottom member, each of thehinge means being defined by an elongated groove in spaced parallelrelationship to the first guide means.
 5. A variable resistance slidecontrol comprising a housing having a top member and a bottom memberspaced from the top member, and elongated resistance element and aconductive element disposed between said members, terminal meansconnected to the elements, a contactor wipably engaging the elementsintermediate the ends thereof, dielectric slider means constrained tomove with the contactor means, dielectric slider-supporting meansdisposed between the top and bottom members, the slider-supporting meanscomprise a pair of resilient dielectric side members integral with andhingedly secured to the bottom member, one of said means being providedwith a channel, and channel receiving means connected to the other meansfor uniformly guiding the slider means.
 6. The variable resistancecontrol of claim 5, wherein each of the side members is provided with achannel and the channel receiving means comprises a pair of runners onopposite sides of the slider.
 7. The variable resistance control ofclaim 5, wherein tolerance compensators are carried by the slider meansfor stabilizing movement of the slider during rectilinear movementthereof.
 8. The variable resistance control of claim 5, wherein thechannels are formed in the slider-supporting means, the channelreceiving means are connected to opposite sides of the slider means andtolerance compensators are provided on the ends of the channel receivingmeans for stabilizing movement of the slider during rectilinear movementthereof.
 9. In a variable resistance slide control, the combination of aslider, a support member of dielectric material supporting and guidingthe slider, means for moving the slider relative to the member, saidsupport member comprising a resilient bottom member, a pair of resilientside members, means hingedly connecting each of the side members to thebottom member, guide means extending along each of the side members,said side members extending normal to the bottom member, resistance andconductive elements supported by the support member, and contactor meansconstrained to move with the slider and wipably engaging the elements.10. The control of claim 9, wherein each of the second mentioned meansis defined by a groove, the material below each of the groovesconnecting the side members to the bottom member.
 11. The control ofclaim 9, wherein each of the second mentioned means is defined by aV-shaped groove, the material below each of the V-shaped groovesconnecting the side members to the bottom member. 12 The control ofclaim 9, wherein each of the guide means comprises a channel, and a pairof runners connected to the slider are receivable in the channel.
 13. Avariable resistance slide control comprising a housing having a topmember and a bottom member spaced from the top member, one of saidmembers being provided with an opening, an elongated resistance elementand a conductive element disposed in the housing between said members,termiNal means connected to the elements, a pair of spaced dielectricside members disposed between the top and bottom members, the resistanceand conductive elements being disposed between the side members, each ofthe side members being provided with a channel, a slider having a pairof spaced runners received in the channels, said runners supporting theslider a predetermined distance from the resistance and conductiveelements, contactor means carried by the slider wipably engaging theelements, tolerance compensators integral with the runners forstabilizing movement of the slider during rectilinear movement of theslider in the housing, and operating means connected to the slider andextending outwardly of the housing through said opening.
 14. Thevariable resistance control of claim 13, wherein the runners extendlongitudinally beyond the body of the slider and the tolerancecompensators extend outwardly and downwardly from the end portions ofthe runners.